Custom hair particle system - wrong directions
There may be a few issues:
1. Make sure the origin is at the bottom of your particle object. LMB on the bottom of the object, then press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+C, then press "origin to 3D cursor:

2. The rotation of your objects looks off. In the hair emitter's particle settings under "Render", check "Rotation":

Then, in the settings of the object being duplicated as hair, rotate the object until it looks correct. For me, it was XYZ 45/90/45, but it may be different for you: